Afternoon Baseball

It's the very rare occasion of liveblogging some of the game. We'll see how it goes.

Picking up in the 5th...
5th inning: I'm holding back on deciding whether Carl Pavano has a real injury or a fake one. Darrell Rasner can only do so much, so he hasn't been terrible through four.
Alex Rodriguez looks like he's the old A-Rod, the 2005 A-Rod or the one he was any year before joining the Yanks. On the other hand, some will always be unhappy.
Johnny Damon is taking a lot of pitches, which is his style, but Blanton snuck a couple by. Good to see from a starter even when he's struggling (2 runs already), even if he's pitching against the Yanks. Looks like Blanton won that battle. Maybe Damon thought he could wile out a walk, or maybe he just guessed wrong throughout. The two runs help make that easier to stomach. Damon's been a good pickup, but I think he'll be remembered more for how he helps or doesn't help Jeter's numbers than his own play.

Bottom of the 5th: I forgot Shannon Stewart is with the A's. He can hit, but doesn't steal anymore (20 for 35 since the start of 2003) and doesn't walk. He wasn't a bad fit for the Twins, but was overrated, I think.
Kenny Singleton just talked about the Yankees pitchers who are coming back soon from injury. He referred to them "returning to health." I know, it's a broadcast without much time for self-editing, but that phrase doesn't make sense. It's "good health" or "poor health." Not having health means, I guess, that you're dead. And only Lazarus and Jesus have pulled that one off (and Superman, maybe?.
Sean Henn is up in the bullpen. Best-case scenario, he becomes Ramiro Mendoza. Worst-case, he becomes Tanyon Sturtze. Not much insight, I know, but that's about all we know for now.
Rasner's out of it. Not bad, considering his start.

Top 6th: Derek Jeter is up, and so are the mics. Lots of crowd noise. The A's finally realized that no one wants to sit in the next county with its football-style seating, so they've lowered the capacity and actually seem like a team with a wide fan base.
Jeter went around trying to avoid a high tight one. He did the same on a pitch he was hit with in the A-Rod grand slam game. Seems like he's done that a lot before, but they are calling it right now.
Flaherty and Singleton are talking about the vagaries of the umpire's strike zone, and Wade Boggs comes up as the man who always got calls. I may have linked to this already, but at least one ump disagreed, saying Boggs just knew the zone.
Both announcers call an A-Rod steal attempt possible, but doesn't immediately happen. Unless A-Rod sees a tipoff, I can't see him thinking running with Giambi up is a good idea, even with the big guy in a slump.
Well, slump continues, no steal attempt. I just wasted a couple paragraphs, didn't I?

Bottom 6th: I didn't even get to talk about Mike Piazza, and now I've lost Darrell Rasner as he leaves. Good job, Rasner. Spot start, terrible 1st inning, and yet turned in a better performance than you might have expected. Lowered expectations, I know, but still.
Really boring inning. Singleton makes the "aw, shucks" pun of Robinson Cano tying the major-league record of three assists in one inning. Not nearly as annoying as if Michael Kay said it.

Top 7th: Speaking of Michael Kay, I don't miss him here. It's a quieter game, allowed to breathe. Now, he's not a terrible hometown announcer, as they go. But it's his competency that breeds his arrogance, which is probably worse on the radio, of course. OK, I'll stop on him, since there's no point in kicking an announcer when he's not there.
ROBINSON CANO WALKED!!!! Oh wow. That's career walk #37 against more than 1,000 at-bats. We've witnessed history, folks. Speaking of history, how about a second-year second baseman who slugged .525?
Josh Phelps is up, and I've shared my thoughts already on him. Three pitches later, he hasn't exactly changed my mind. Flaherty says by missing the chance on the first-pitch hanger, he essentially ended his at-bat. A crappy hitter himself, he should know.
Speaking of Flaherty, who's been great (and Singleton doesn't pressure him), he notes that pinch-hitter Jorge Posada getting a full day off means the team's had a great day. Now, the Yanks haven't been awful today. But they need a hit from the bottom half of the lineup, and nobody else seems like they could do better.
What a hit!! Jorge takes the big hanging curve or something, rips it, and Cano runs all the way from first (he moved on the pitch, granted). The boos are ripping through and Blanton is out of there. Tie ballgame.

Bottom 7th:
Derek Jeter makes a nice stop, but Phelps screws up the scoop. Singleton initially thought the error-prone shortstop should get it, but the throw wasn't that terrible. Giambi could have gotten it. However, you wonder, if Jeter could go to his left better, would he have had to dive? I'm not sure of the answer. Don't know why the team defense seems worse than ever. Perhaps it's just an early-season anomaly.
Henn's out, which isn't great (makes the true bullpen pitch three innings) but not insurmountable as long as Scott Proctor's arm hasn't fallen off.
I'm really typing this as it happens, honest -- it seems Proctor's legs still work. That would have been one hell of a violent collision between the big man and A-Rod, also a big man, obviously.
Next man advances Bobby Crosby (not our pal Bubba) to third. Kind of a win-win for both teams -- Yanks get an out, A's get a guaranteed run if there's a hit.
Wicked pitch in the dirt from Proctor to Stewart. Too hard to have time to react, too much movement to guess correctly on. Of course, he then throws a ball to set up 3-2. Don't give him too much to hit. Risk the walk by trying to get a chase.
The result....Proctor gets exactly that. Stewart hits a soft grounder on a low pitch, A-Rod guns him out. Phelps holds onto this one. Good work, Scottie Proctor!.

Top 8th: As Jeter flies out, they announce that they changed the error to him, giving him two on the day and continuing his Jose Offerman-like quality there. Don't like the decision. If a first baseman can't make a scoop, it's his fault, especially when the throw isn't wide.
Can't believe Alan Embree is pitching. Partly because he was so awful in 2005, but also because he's got a 4.53 career ERA. I guess, like Jesse Orosco, a past-his-prime lefty can always find a home. I did get the fortune of seeing Orosco strike out Damon with runners on in his first Yankee appearance. At age 46 or 47 or whatever, he summoned one last bit of magic.
Embree, by the way, is determined to give A-Rod a home-run pitch. Lots of strikes, but can't quite get a hold of one. Ahhh....a relapse for A-Rod, swinging and missing on a dead-red fastball. Chalk one to luck for Embree.
And Abreu caught stealing. The math would have said great inning for the Yanks, but the results didn't work out. Let's hope Proctor or whomever can keep shutting down this surprisingly punchless A's offense.

Bottom 8th: Nick Swisher swings so hard he undoes his button. Maybe he left it loose a la Willie Mays wearing oversized caps in the field. Swisher reminds me briefly of The Hold Steady song "The Swish." Great song, fun party-time lyrics. They've also got a song about unbuttoned attraction ("Cattle and the Creeping Things") -- "She likes the way it looks on her chest with one, two, three open buttons."
Wow...huge aside. But Mike Piazza was being boring in his at-bat, and then Torre did his interminable walk to the mound to bring in a new guy.

OK, Mike Myers in after Proctor's usual five outs. Singleton praising Eric Chavez for his defense and power despite a subpar year last year. The loved-by-Peter-Gammons third baseman promptly walks. C'mon, Myers! I know you have no regular pitching schedule, but walking lefties won't help that improve.
CLICHE ALERT! Singleton: "Lefty veteran pitcher against lefty veteran hitter." Deep.
Myers has him in the hole, so there's really no excuse for anything but a bloop hit.
At 2-2, he proves that he's got Todd Walker the batter off-balance with a sweeping breaking ball that gets weakly fouled off. Might as well challenge him rather than risk a walk being cute. Posada out to talk, hopefully conveying that message. Flaherty's talking about an inside pitch being needed.
Gets the right result. Believe me, I'm not usually this in tune with the game.
On to the 9th, deadlocked.

Top 9th: It's not exactly a sense of urgency, but the Yankees pitching is bound to crack sooner than later, and who knows if Mariano Rivera will come in with the score tied. You'd like to see a score this inning, because the bottom of the lineup is less likely to deliver in a possible 10th inning. Of course, with Giambi already out, it's up to the always-patient Cano to start things up. Even if you concede a Phelps out, Cabrera is swinging a better bat, and Posada is on fire, so having a man on could mean bringing in Mo in a few minutes and ending this debate.

2-2 on Cano. The crowd seems like it wants to get excited, but isn't sure if Embree is just fooling them. Foul ball. Good pitch on the hands, especially for a guy who doesn't seem to have his old velocity (91 mph to A-Rod on that strikeout, for instance), although it's not bad. Of course, he just threw 93 mph on that last foul ball, so I stand corrected.
Singleton sounds fairly at ease in this lead role. He's had the practice, but it does say that no announcer is entirely indispensable. The Yanks have a deep crop of them.
He is filling up more dead space than earlier, but Flaherty hasn't said anything in five minutes. Maybe he's in the bathroom.
Robinson Cano walks again!!!! Four in two games!!! Huston Street in, Embree out. Makes sense. If Embree can walk the better-hitting Oscar Azocar, he can walk anyone.

Annnnnd we're back... John Flaherty is back from the can to dissect Cano's at bat and also see it himself for the first time. Predictably, Phelps quickly gets out, and now Melky, my favorite .370-slugging outfielder ever, is taking his hacks.

I'm not even going to comment on this latest caught stealing.

Bottom 9th: Luis Vizcaino is in against the .207 hitting Bobby Crosby. I like Crosby, and he seems to hugely impact the A's, but I don't quite know why. He also can't pull his glove out of the way on tags, as Singleton and Flaherty have noted all game, even flashing back to a tag on Cano last April. He's also lost his pop, without an extra-base hit this year, and gets hurt a lot, with almost half the games missed the last two years. He pops out.

Vizcaino sails a pitch way high. He'd better not sail it into the zone, because that ship will be departing with the message of an A's win. Haha, haha. Nautical puns aside, I'm not sold on this guy's command just yet, although he's not a bad guy to have at all.
The fantastically named Travis Buck is battling here. They speculate on his power potential. He looks a bit too small right now to become a true slugger, but he could, optimistically, develop into a Steve Finley/Luis Gonzalez type who later gets power (enhanced or not) despite a more-slender frame. He draws a walk, in true A's fashion.
Score one for not having command, Vizcaino.

This liveblogging is not as fun when your team can't convert. Abreu boots the ball, everybody's safe, and now you almost have to bring Mariano Rivera in. Although, he might not be ready, and he's the king of bloop hits with runners in scoring position. One out, though, with the double play in effect, so all's not lost. Right?

Whew. Two outs. And now Shannon Stewart is up, and his weak bat aside, it seems like he might just deliver to spite me right now.

Reverse psychology works! Extra innings. Wow. I picked a good game.

Top 10th: My lack of faith in Vizcaino unfounded, I look forward to the Yanks actually scoring some runs. Because if they can have four errors, they can score four runs. Now, my boy Melky is ready to deliver, yes? Swing and a miss! Damn.

Huston Street is good, even though the last time I saw him, Magglio Ordonez sent the Tiggers to the World Series. Wouldn't mind a reverse of that, and now Damon comes up with a runner on, nursing an 0-9 in the series.
Speaking of Huston Street, remember that ill-fated Lori Loughlin-Tony Danza comedy "Hudson Street"? Everyone was sure it would be a hit -- I guess they forgot that two terrible actors as leads doesn't usually mean success.
Speaking of failure, Damon strikes out again. Rough day.
Jeter's at .333 with a .417 OBP. We'd take that for a full year, wouldn't we? Minus the 20 hit-by-pitches that will be required.

Finally! Bad defense strikes the A's, and the two stalwarts, Posada and Jeter, are in scoring position. There's still two outs, though, but this is a huge break.
Abreu should take the bat off of his shoulder in this spot. Don't let them pitch around you just to get to A-Rod, although that's not a bad position to be in, as the Yankees go.
Chance to be a hero, Bobby. Great matchup.

And a walk.

A-Rod. Bases loaded. Game sort of on the line. Against a top-tier closer up against a high pitch count. Like the odds.

And I'm an idiot. Pop up. Huston Street, you lucky SOB.

Bottom 10th/Top 11th: Again, the Yanks play from behind, as Jeter can't outthrow the runner.
Piazza up, but he's never been a Yankee killer against anyone but Clemens.
I missed part of this half-inning, but Farnsworth looked good for an expensive one-inning man. Clearly frustrated Piazza.
The Yanks bullpen continues to impress. As long as by September, they aren't cooked, that'd be great.

Doug M. (don't wanna spell it out) is awful. Man, Andy Phillips was better. But, the failure to produce the last couple innings means bringing in Mo. Not a bad thing, but you'd like to have it be a save situation.

Bottom 11th: Mo's going only one, Singleton thinks. Brian Bruney is all that's left as the Yanks work on 10 scoreless innings.
Gets one out. Mo still moves well at age 37, and he's in incredible physical shape. Thankfully, most of us have realized long ago that we're watching a legend in action.
94 mph to Buck, who's never faced the Sandman before. That's a deceptive 94 mph, that's for sure. Of course, the ump just shrunk the zone or something, because it's a four-pitch walk.
They just showed Torre on the bench. God, he looks old. He is, of course, one of the five oldest coaches in the four major sports, I believe. He's so old that Charles Schultz wrote a comic strip poking fun at his managerial posture (search for Peanuts).
Aside-happy as I am, Jeter goes to his left to snare a liner. Granted he moved about two steps, but the athleticism on the leap was impressive.
Two outs, one man on. Not a situation to worry. It's more to worry about the next inning -- if the Yanks score, Mo has to pitch two, realistically. If they don't, it's Brian Bruney indefinitely, and the guy pitched last night. He seems tough, but still.
It's good Posada is in the game at this point, I think. He can baby the inexperienced guys and just put up a target for someone like Rivera. Although, his day off is turning into almost a full game.
Gets out of it, with Douggie M. putting the ball away. Man, first base is just a void for outs when Giambi is DH-ing. At least Doug can field a bit, or so goes his rep.
On to what promises to be a very interesting 12th inning.

Top 12th: Mo's wearing a sweet hoodie as the 12th starts, although that just says how cold it is around the Bay area.

Posada rips a ball that makes you wish Phil Rizzuto was announcing. Yes, I know, being the 12th inning means Scooter would be long gone, but still. The ball looked gone for a second but then settled lazily into the glove around the warning track. Posada is doing a good job of defying occupational-related age so far, but remains stuck on 199 career homers.

3-1 to Damon. Get on base, please. Takes yet another strike. One day after being bitch-slapped by the A's for his arm, he's being equally unagressive at the plate, though as I type this, he gets hit. Take vengeance on the basepaths, swinger.
Lenny DiNardo, an accomplice to Bronson Arroyo's Northeastern escapades, is pitching well, especially considering his recent arrival.

Abreu is up with Jeter at first. I'd like to see Jeter run, despite the lefty pitching and the two caught stealings for the team. They need to shake something up here, and an Abreu single needs to drive in a run. Alas, he weakly grounds out.

It's the Brian Bruney show now.

Bottom 12th: I hate to keep repeating this, but the Yanks are testing luck. However, the pitching has been skillful and has not really relied on luck. The A's, of course, help by not having any good hitters.
Bruney, whose name apparently is "Bru-NAY," according to the PA (I've been calling him "BRU-nee") can bring the heat, the announcers say. On the other hand, he is like 250 pounds or something. David Wells is the exception as the big guy who throws small.
Swashbuckling Swisher is at the plate. He's a dangerous guy, I think, or at least the closest to one the Athletics have. Speaking of dangerous, the Yanks and A's share three of the most-dangerous home-run hitters ever, all from different eras and different cities: Home Run Baker (Philadelphia A's), Roger Maris (KC A's) and Reggie Jackson (KC/Oakland A's). The first and last did their best work arguably with the A's, and we all know Maris' story.
Swisher does not emulate their successes.

Bruney gives Piazza a FAT pitch, but "I'm not gay" Mike pops it up. Being Oakland with its vast foul territory, Doug M. runs a half-mile and catches it.

So yeah, the 12th inning was not quite so eventful. What a duel.

Top 13th: Normally, at this stage, you get the talk of all the hitters tensing up, trying to be the hero and end the game in one swing. This is to explain the lack of success against a typically burned-out bullpen. However, the teams have hit like hell for the whole game, so I think it's just a continuation of a pattern -- that and some fine situational and long-term pitching by both teams.

A-Rod and DiNardo are doing some real battling. DiNardo is doing the brunt of it, since he throws 85 or so. But he wins the battle of the minds, as A-Rod seems to have been guessing and gets gunned down on the inside corner. Little bit of a relapse tonight, with the swinging-through-air strikeout and taking garbage K here, despite the monstrous blast.

Speaking of taking, Giambi looks at a strike, but I think in a good way. It was 1-0, the ball was tailing away, and the big man isn't looking to go opposite field. As I type that, he crushes one to right-center.
The dam cracks on this run-scoring drought, to terribly mix metaphors.

Not wasting any time, walk-machine Robbie Cano is on the plate, and it's 2-0. Can we see 5 walks in two days? No, but a 3rd hit is just as welcome. "A hit is as good a walk," as they say.

Now, the Yanks can't get complacent, as the A's, visiting the mound, as clearly not. Bruney can use all the cushion he can get. With only one out, advancing the runner would help and put the pressure back on the A's to consider a pitching change.
But getting Cano thrown out by 20 feet won't do that. Wow, I can't remember worse baserunning from a Yankee team than tonight. Even if that was a hit-and-run.
It's this lack of fundamentals that should worry fans come playoff time.

They get the baserunner back as Douggie M. gets plunked. Melky facing off against DiNardo, a matchup that's not bad at all. But tough to expect much here.
He grounds out, and Bruney gets to show Torre his two-inning potential for future use to burn him out. Kidding.

Bottom 13th: Chavez, Walker, Crosby. A hell of a 2004 lineup. Not so imposing now.
As the last chance for the A's arrives, you've gotta look ahead, win or lose, to tomorrow's game. Andy Pettitte will need to deliver seven innings, which is not unheard of, as this bullpen will be tired, though not depleted. Proctor, you would hope, would be unavailable, as would Bruney, but most of the others would be around, plus Mo, since he's only pitched four times.

Of course, Bruney is at 3-0, so that discussion fades into background for the moment. Leadoff walk. Onward with the cliches of how bad that is, although in reality it's certainly not good.
Up is Todd Walker. Another ball. Can't be afraid to challenge a .222 BA and OBP guy. Especially one who's a hit-first guy past his prime. Ron Guidry is chatting with Bruney, which is good. This is not his ideal spot, so relaxing him isn't a bad idea. No pressure on him, in some ways.
There's a good strike. Walker cutting, missing badly on an 89 mph. Reminds me of ol'Rey Ordonez swinging up at fastballs he had no prayer of hitting. Strike two. Bruney back in control. Posada's gotta guide him to a smart pitch here. He does, getting the popup, but somehow loses the ball. Was he afraid of not knowing where the dugout steps were? Flaherty thinks so. Tentative, for sure. Not good, but again, make sure Bruney knows he's still got the edge.

Cranks a 1-2 pitch to 93 mph. Walker's way behind, fouls it into the seats. Lots of mind games inevitable here. Unless Bruney's really confident in a breaking ball to get Walker to chase, I think you've gotta stay with the high fastball. He can't pull it, so make him go opposite field. Walker's not a guy who likes to surrender that way, although he can foul them off to the end of time. Advantage shifting toward the A's for this at-bat and next.
Long fly to right. Finally pulled one, but had to lift it too much to do so. Battle to Bruney, but the A's gave themselves a chance in the war. Lots of pitches there, and Crosby should know what to expect now. The .194 hitter will need any help he can get.
That ball put a scare into me. Bobby Crosby smacks one that dies in the air. Wow. Flaherty tells us the obvious: The A's are going for a home run.

Travis Buck, the rookie, is the last hope. Probably the best guy you want up there. Quick bat, no fear, success tonight. Quickly down 0-2, as opposed to slowly down 0-2. Giambi and Mattingly talking something over on the bench. Probably not PEDs. 1-2 count. Nice patience from Buck tonight and grit from Bruney.

CAUGHT LOOKING! Goat to hero overnight, as Singleton points out. What a marathon, but well worth it. I may never liveblog again, though, after this.
Buck's gotta look fastball there; can't be caught frozen. On the other hand, Bruney suddenly turned into Greg Maddux, painting the corner, so it's tough to blame the rook.

Kim Jones flirts with Giambi in the postgame, and the stat line shows Jason ties the real Moose, Skowron, in Yankee history on the home-run list. Two very good first basemen right there.

Surely an unmanageable game, as Kay used to say, but a showcase of what baseball captivates, I think. See ya'll later.

Labels: Baseball, Liveblogging, Yankees